For Serbin, a senior at Garfield High School in East Los Angeles, helping people of all ages is important.

As a dedicated member of the Power of Change Club, Serbin’s volunteer work includes distributing food on Skid Row, visiting the elderly in nursing homes, and helping to bring joy to children through the White Memorial Medical Center’s Christmas programs.

Volunteering with the children is especially rewarding for Serbin, who says she plans to study to become a doctor specializing in children with special needs.

Jimenez, a 2017 graduate of Mark Keppel High School, is currently a freshman at Rio Hondo College. He is especially dedicated to helping veterans and needy families in Montebello, East Los Angeles and Pico Rivera. Though still young in age, he is a “longtime” volunteer with such groups as Heart of Compassion, the Rotary, Lions and Kiwanis Clubs of Montebello.

For the past four years, Jimenez has also been active in the Monterey Park Fire Department’s Explorer Program, which is a perfect match for his goal of becoming a firefighter.

Serbin and Jimenez were selected for this recognition because if their outstanding contributions to the community, Optimist club member Jaime Rodriguez told EGP.

Friends and family of Serbin and Jimenez attended Saturday’s breakfast ceremony, proud to hare in the recognition of the positive impact the two young people are making in their communities.

A former girls’ basketball coach at Mark Keppel High School in Alhambra pleaded not guilty Monday to sex-related counts involving a female student.

Joseph Alan Kikuchi, 56, of Monterey Park, is facing 13 felony counts of sexual penetration by a foreign object, five counts of committing a lewd act on a child and one count of oral copulation of a person under 16, along with five misdemeanor counts of child molestation.

He is due back in court Feb. 24, when a date is expected to be set for a hearing to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to proceed to trial.

Kikuchi was the girls’ varsity basketball coach at the high school at the time of the alleged crimes, which occurred between February and September of last year, according to Deputy District Attorney Rena Durrant.

Police said an Alhambra Unified School District administrator heard a rumor regarding an intimate relationship allegedly occurring between a student and her basketball coach and asked police to investigate.

“The investigation showed that on numerous occasions over the last year, there was unlawful sexual contact between the coach and the female player,” Alhambra police Sgt. Jerry Johnson alleged.

Kikuchi resigned his coaching post last Sept. 15.

If convicted as charged, Kikuchi faces up to 20 years in state prison and lifetime sex offender registration, according to the District Attorney’s Office.